]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/20/nintendo-adds-60-more-digital-wii-u-and-3ds-titles-to-club-nintendo-europe/feed/0Pokemon Rumble World classified suspiciously close to Nintendo DeNA dealhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/03/17/pokemon-rumble-world-nintendo-nx-dena/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/17/pokemon-rumble-world-nintendo-nx-dena/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 23:25:15 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=518267Pokemon Rumble World has been outed by the delightfully transparent Australian Classification Board.

We don’t know what Pokemon Rumble Worlds is; Nintendo politely advised us it has “nothing to announce at this time”.

Thanks to the ACB, we do know it’s PG rated, has online interactivity, and is coming to multiple platforms – all of which is unusual for Nintendo.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/17/pokemon-rumble-world-nintendo-nx-dena/feed/0Microsoft working with Sony and Nintendo to combat DDoS attackshttp://www.vg247.com/2015/03/06/microsoft-working-with-sony-and-nintendo-to-combat-ddos-attacks/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/06/microsoft-working-with-sony-and-nintendo-to-combat-ddos-attacks/#commentsFri, 06 Mar 2015 01:29:34 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=516144Xbox Live may be a rival to the PSN and Nintendo Network, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo can’t work together.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that he’s been talking to Sony, Nintendo and other companies about keeping gaming networks stable in the face of DDoS attacks and other malicious activity.

Speaking to GameInformer, Spencer said nobody benefits when a rival network goes down.

“I don’t think it’s great when PSN goes down. It doesn’t help me,” he said.

“All it does is put the fear and distrust from any gamer that’s out there, so I look at all of us together as this is our collective opportunity to share what we can about what we’re learning and how things are growing.

“Those conversations happen, which I think is great.”

Spencer said Microsoft is committed to making sure Xbox Live is “robust and reliable” as well as secure, and thanked Xbox Live members for their patience during the holiday downtimes.

Yoshida said attacks against PlayStation Network “happen every day,” and that it’s a “constant battle.”

“We are always always working against these attacks,” he said. “Actually, an attack happens every day. Literally every day. Some days are bigger and some days smaller. Some days they devise new means, new ways – it’s like cat and mouse.

“We have a partner company we work with, and we always update the new ways the attacker might deploy, so it is a constant battle.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/03/06/microsoft-working-with-sony-and-nintendo-to-combat-ddos-attacks/feed/0Club Nintendo is closing downhttp://www.vg247.com/2015/01/20/club-nintendo-is-closing-down/
http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/20/club-nintendo-is-closing-down/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 09:00:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=508368Nintendo has announced that it will be closing its Club Nintendo loyalty programme this year.

Nintendo announced the news today on the official blog. The firm added that a new programme will replace Club Nintendo and will launch later this year.

In addition, any Stars in your account will expire on September 30, 2015.

The full discontinuation schedule is below:

April 1st 2015

From this date, Nintendo will no longer include product registration cards with its packaged games, so such products cannot be registered in Club Nintendo. You may still find product registration cards in games that were in stock before this date, however

April 20th 2015

Termination of the registration of digital products downloaded from Nintendo eShop. Digital products obtained from Nintendo eShop after this date will no longer appear in the My Registered Games & Systems page in Club Nintendo. In addition, surveys for download software titles will no longer be available

September 30th 2015

End of Club Nintendo programme. All Club Nintendo features, such as signing up as a new member, logging in as a registered member, earning Stars, and exchanging Stars for items from the Stars Catalogue will no longer be possible from this date

When the new programme is announced, users who sign up during its launch period will get a free digital copy of Flipnote Studio 3D.

As for the new 3DS models, they will not come with registration cards. Hardware bundles that come with a game however will still include a registration voucher for the game.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/20/club-nintendo-is-closing-down/feed/0Nintendo eShop down for maintenance March 13http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/09/nintendo-eshop-down-for-maintenance-march-13/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/03/09/nintendo-eshop-down-for-maintenance-march-13/#commentsSun, 09 Mar 2014 23:43:57 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=455133Nintendo has announced an extended maintenance downtime for the 3DS and Wii U eShop later this week.

The extended maintenance window will run in addition to regular weekly maintenance.

The most concrete news out of the event is that Mario Kart 8 is coming to Wii U in May, a more specific window than its previous “northern spring 2014″ launch.

In general, Iwata said Nintendo isn’t looking to do a Sega by changing its strategy of selling hardware and software – something many arm chair analysts have suggested – and reiterated that Nintendo won’t be bringing games to mobile devices. However, it has learned lessons from the past, and will continue research and development on hardware in the future. Nintendo needs to identify opportunities and create new markets, the executive added.

Saving the Wii U
As for the Wii U, its weakness is the Game Pad, he admitted; consumers believe it’s a Wii add-on, and Nintendo can’t afford to cut the price. Software to justify the hardware is thin on the ground. As an example, the Game Pad’s NFC reader functionality has been neglected, Iwata said, with just one game taking advantage of it.

Games that show off what the Game Pad can do are Nintendo’s highest priority, Iwata said, and confirmed that new titles in this vein will be announced this year via Nintendo Direct. The company hope to fast-track their release, too. Mario Kart 8 is one such title.

An upcoming firmware update will make the Wii U Game Pad fire up much faster, hopefully encouraging users to use it more frequently. In addition, the DS’s library of Virtual Console titles is coming to Wii U.

In a later Q&A, Iwata said that the Wii U is not expected to be a big financial driver in the coming financial year – the 3DS will do that – but that Wii U software will contribute to turning the console’s fortunes around longterm.

Regarding software, veteran designer Shigeru Miyamoto told questioners that the Wii U was impacted by a lack of key franchises, but that he believes the issue has been resolved. That’s not to say the Wii U it out of hot water in that regard, he added; although games like Super Mario 3D World earned strong reviews, single-player experiences are unsatisfying and users are not communicating about games they enjoy.

Interestingly, Miyamoto said that he believes Nintendo franchises can be evolved in a more “stable” manner by working with third-party developers; he may mean more frequent releases, as fans often decry the lack of a Zelda or Mario at key periods.

Miyamoto concluded that the Wii U had a release drought in 2013, and that NintendoLand, a title designed to showcase the console’s strengths, failed to do so. Iwata indicated his agreement regarding the lack of release in the console first full calendar year.

Nintendo Network as a platform
Iwata said Nintendo wants to change its understanding of platform, separating it from hardware like the 3DS and Wii U, Something like EA’s Origin ID or a PSN log-in, Nintendo wants its Nintendo Network ID to extend to other hardware like smartphones – although not, Iwata reiterated yet again, because Nintendo is bringing its games to mobile. Instead, Nintendo wants to establish relations with smartphone users on the devices they are already familiar with.

In a Q&A following the briefing, Iwata said Nintendo’s smartphone services aren’t about making money, but about communicating with them.

Nintendo hopes that what it provides through this service won’t just be advertising; it has to be fun and clever, so that people want to view it and engage with it.

In the Q&A following the presentation, Nintendo made some very interesting comments on this subject. Iwata said that Nintendo must emulate Android and Apple’s single architecture across various iDevices, so that handhelds and portables no longer exist in separate ecosystems, but are like brother and sister.

Nintendo on demand
According to tweets out of the event Iwata said that Nintendo is considering launching an on-demand service sometime this year. Such a service would be tied to Nintendo ID, not device. No mention of this services was found in the official English transcript, however, so it may have been a misinterpreaiton of Nintendo’s more vague discussion of the Nintendo Network ID platform.

Nevertheless, Iwat’s NNIS platform talk segqued suspiciously into talk of using smartphones to open games to a much wider audience This would allow Nintendo to make games in general cheaper; Iwata even suggested lowering the pice of a game for users who play it with friends.

It doesn’t sound like Nintendo’s plans are concrete, though; Iwata said the company will experiment on Wii U first. Nintendo also hopes to expand into emerging markets by 2015, Iwata said, although it understands its usual premium pricing won’t work in many territories.

Nintendo’s “quality of life” platform
The company also wants to move beyond just entertainment and into helping improve quality of life. Wearable devices are possible, Iwata said, but Nintendo wants to leapfrog that trend to have users structuring a healthy day-to-day life, as enabled by non-wearable Nintendo devices – presumably handhelds, consoles and the Nintendo Network platform, accessible via your smartphone.

There are synergies between a games platform and a quality of life platform, Iwata added. The quality of life platform will roll out in 2015, and will be integrated with games. Details of this business plan will be announced later in 2014, with profits expected in FY 2016.

Miyamoto plans to build a flagship title for this new kind of platform, he said during the Q&A.

Licensing Mario
During the core presentation, Iwata briefly mentioned that Nintendo is changing its attitude to licensing IP, and may seek a partner to help it expand its reach. In the US, merchandising is increasing aggressively, he added.

When queried on the subject, Iwata said the company will be more flexible about licensing character IP, but won’t license everything – it doesn’t want to undermine or introduce competition to its own products, of course.

Nintendo is already in licensing discussions, he added, and although it has not set a firm budget it expects to begin making a profit from this in the not so distant future.

Assuring investors Nintendo wouldn’t emulate Sanrio by spamming its characters on everything, Iwata said licensing may include things like official wallpapers for mobile devices.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/30/mario-kart-8-coming-in-may-game-pad-is-wii-us-weakness-nintendo-briefing/feed/28Nintendo: “Sales will fail to meet forecast by a large margin”, $336m loss expectedhttp://www.vg247.com/2014/01/17/nintendo-our-sales-will-fail-to-meet-forecast-by-a-large-margin/
http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/17/nintendo-our-sales-will-fail-to-meet-forecast-by-a-large-margin/#commentsFri, 17 Jan 2014 08:00:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=441058Company slashes global Wii U sales forecast for the business year by almost 70 percent, to 2.8 million units from 9 million, and its 3DS sales forecast to 13.5 million units from 18 million units.

Nintendo has warned it make a full year operating loss of around 35 billion yen ($336m) due to weaker than expected sales of the Wii U and 3DS. It now expects to sell only 2.8 million Wii U units during the fiscal year – down from its 9 million targets, with 3DS sales of 13.5 million rather than 18 million.

“Sales in the U.S. and European markets in which we entered the year-end sales season with a hardware markdown were significantly lower than our original forecasts, with both hardware and software sales experiencing a huge gap from their targets.”

Software projections have also been revised down from 38 million Wii U games to 19 million, and 66 million 3DS games rather than 80 million.

It had originally expected to make a profit of 100 billion yen ($958.2m). It now predicts a net loss of 25 billion yen ($239.5m) rather than a net profit of 55 billion yen (527m) and net sales of 590 billion yen ($5.6bn) instead of the previous forecasts of 920 billion yen ($8.8bn).

It said: “Giving a detailed explanation on our sales performance in and leading up to the year-end sales season by platform, Nintendo 3DS continued to show strong sales in the Japanese market. The unit sales for Nintendo 3DS in the previous calendar year amounted to approximately 4.9 million units, falling short of our aim of five million units by a small margin. However, as I explained before, given that every gaming device from the year 2000 onwards apart from Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS did not reach sales of four million units even in their peak years, we can say that the sales figure for Nintendo 3DS in the last calendar year was indeed very high. However, outside Japan, while its market share increased as we continued to release compelling titles throughout the year, Nintendo 3DS did not reach our sales targets in the overseas markets, and we were ultimately unable to achieve our goal of providing a massive sales boost to Nintendo 3DS in the year-end sales season.

“Using the U.S. market as an example, Nintendo 3DS became the top-selling platform in the last calendar year, according to NPD, an independent market research company, with its cumulative sales exceeding 11.5 million units; however, the estimated annual sales of the Nintendo 3DS hardware remain significantly lower than our initial forecast at the beginning of the fiscal year. In Europe, while the individual markets showed different results, France was the only market in which we experienced relatively strong sales, and we failed to attain our initial sales levels by a large margin in other countries.

“Wii U sales, on the other hand, showed some progress in the year-end sales season as we released various compelling titles from the summer onwards, launched hardware bundles at affordable price points and also performed a markdown of the hardware in the U.S. and European markets; however, they fell short of our targeted recovery by a large margin. In particular, sales in the U.S. and European markets in which we entered the year-end sales season with a hardware markdown were significantly lower than our original forecasts, with both hardware and software sales experiencing a huge gap from their targets. In addition, we did not assume at the beginning of the fiscal year that we would perform a markdown for the Wii U hardware in the U.S. and European markets. This was also one of the reasons for lower sales and profit estimates.”

According to a report from the firm, the US digital games market hit $11.7 billion in 2013, up 11% from $10.5 billion in 2012.

In December alone, the digital sector tallied $1.2 billion during December, a 36% increase on the $862 million of December 2012.

Breaking it down, free-to-play games brought in $2.8 billion in 2013, up 45% year-on-year. Month-over-month, the category was static in term of sales, with $218 million, but saw a user base decline from 44.5 million in November to 40.6 million in December. That sales did not decline is attributed by SuperData to Dota 2′s Wraithnight event and Planetside 2′s improvements.

Traditional pay-to-play games, on the other hand, saw a 19% decrease in full year sales, dropping to $1.1 billion. Subscriptions held steady in December at $83 million, with a user base of 5.3 million, but microtransactions dropped to just 21% of monthly revenues.

On the mobile side, sales reached $3 billion in 2013, a 28% increase on 2012. In fact, mobile games peaked at a new record high in December, climbing 16% on November’s total to $317 million. During the holidays, conversion rates were above average at 5.8%.

Social games drew in a whopping $1.8 billion in 2013, but that’s down 21% from 2012. Nevertheless, December saw a new monthly sales record of $204 million, and average revenue per user hit $50. Superdata puts this down to the extra long holiday period this year.

DLC, including both PC and consoles, brought in $2.8 billion a 13% year on year increase from 2012′s $2.5 billion. December sales reached $379 million, a huge 71% year-on-year increase.

“The total digital console segment came up just south of $100 million in December. A strong push of last generation DLC packages on Black Friday sustained sales.”

SuperData’s monthly and annual report makes an excellent foil to the NPD Group’s, which is concerned with traditional retail only; the two combined often paint a much more cheery figures. Even so, there are still a number of spend channels – used, rentals, indies – that aren’t covered by either report. basically, the industry is making money, even when the NPD’s numbers go down. Hooray!

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2014/01/06/pokemon-x-y-going-offline-during-nintendo-network-maintenance/feed/0Nintendo North America eShop update, December 12: Miiverse, NNID, Double Dragonhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/12/12/nintendo-north-america-eshop-update-december-12-miiverse-nnid-double-dragon/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/12/nintendo-north-america-eshop-update-december-12-miiverse-nnid-double-dragon/#commentsThu, 12 Dec 2013 14:59:21 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=434614Nintendo has updated the North American end of its eShop offerings with a quite a few titles, but the big news is the 3DS system update which adds Miiverse and Nintendo Network IDs to the handheld.

The system update was released earlier this week – in case you didn’t log into your handheld. It adds Miiverse support and the ability to register a Nintendo Network ID. Users can now use the same Nintendo Network ID across Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems to combine Nintendo eShop balances and Wish Lists.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/12/12/nintendo-north-america-eshop-update-december-12-miiverse-nnid-double-dragon/feed/0Nintendo eShop remote buy, discoverability improvements inboundhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/09/05/nintendo-eshop-remote-buy-discoverability-improvements-inbound/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/05/nintendo-eshop-remote-buy-discoverability-improvements-inbound/#commentsThu, 05 Sep 2013 05:58:10 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=405227Nintendo’s 3DS and Wii U eShop is “always a work in progress”, and the platform holder has some specific improvements at the top of its priorities list.

Speaking to Polygon at PAX Prime, Nintendo of America’s Damon Baker outlined a few of the improvements he has in mind for the service.

“The Nintendo eShop is always a work in progress. We’re going to have off-device availability [through the web and mobile devices] for eShop sales at some point.,” he said.

“All of us feel that discoverability is going to be increasingly more important. We’ve got a nice flow of content, but as we grow the amount of content, it’s going to be important that we find that holy grail solution of how we make discoverability a priority.”

Baker said courting indie developers remains one of Nintendo’s current initiatives, and said the company has been at it for some time.

“This isn’t something that we’ve just decided needed to be a top priority for Nintendo. Dan [Adelman] has been working on self-publishing and has made that available to our partners for years,” he said.

“I think our priorities right now are to just really educate those development partners that it’s to easier than ever before to make games for Nintendo platforms and to increase that awareness and visibility for all that quality content.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/09/05/nintendo-eshop-remote-buy-discoverability-improvements-inbound/feed/8Miiverse photo attachment in testing phasehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/06/10/miiverse-photo-attachment-in-testing-phase/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/10/miiverse-photo-attachment-in-testing-phase/#commentsMon, 10 Jun 2013 00:38:57 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=375332A Nintendo employee has revealed that photo attachments are on the way to Miiverse.

Well-known Nintendo spokesperson Tom posted the news directly to Miiverse, including a photo of the plane’s wing as he noted that he’s on the same flight to E3 as Nintendo of America president Reggie File-Aime.

“The photo attachment option is still in its test phase so it isn’t available to everyone,” he said.

Miiverse is currently available via Wii U and web, and is headed to 3DS and mobiles. It allows users to post general or game-specific comments, interact, and share tips and tricks; a social network for people who like Marios, basically.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/06/10/miiverse-photo-attachment-in-testing-phase/feed/1Wii U system software update out now, may take an hourhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/wii-u-system-software-update-out-now-may-take-an-hour/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/wii-u-system-software-update-out-now-may-take-an-hour/#commentsFri, 26 Apr 2013 01:41:03 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=361775Nintendo has unleashed its second major system software update for Wii U, bringing a number of new features and improvements delivered via a hefty download.

Nintendo warned that the download could take up to an hour, and that’s without install time. It’s important that you do not switch off, unplug, reset or otherwise power down your console during the update, even if the progress bar stops moving at the beginning of the update.

That said, if you already have the update which was released in December, the Wii U should download the new firmware in the background, in which case you can power off using the Game Pad or console switches as normal. The update will start again when you switch back on. Don’t unplug the console though, you ninny.

Wii U firmware version 3.0.0 U adds a standby function to download and install software while the system is powered off, and to change the priority of downloads.

You’ll be able to transfer data between USB storage devices and manage data more easily by selecting multiple targets, and you can adjust the screen size to fit your TV.

MiiVerse now supports the Wii Remote, Wii U Pro Controller, and Classic Controller, and a couple of changes have been made to handwritten posts.

Purchases from the eShop will arrive with updates rather than requiring a second download, and the browser now supports the Wii Remote and Wii U Pro Controller. You can manually specify your search engine, too.

Nintendo has also made a bunch of “further improvements to overall system stability and other minor adjustments have been made to enhance the user experience”.

Finally, the update adds the ability to load directly to the Wii menu by pressing B with the Wii U logo is displayed at start up. Full patch notes are available directly from Nintendo.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/26/wii-u-system-software-update-out-now-may-take-an-hour/feed/2Nintendo eShop sales more than doubled year-on-yearhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/04/25/nintendo-eshop-sales-more-than-doubled-year-on-year/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/25/nintendo-eshop-sales-more-than-doubled-year-on-year/#commentsThu, 25 Apr 2013 22:04:06 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=361732It may be all doom and gloom for the Wii U and Nintendo’s financials in general, but the eShop is just coming into its own, with tremendous growth in downloadable sales on the big N’s first properly supported digital platform.

Download sales on Nintendo platforms more than doubled in the last 12 months, CEO Satoru Iwata revealed in a a post-earnings release presentation, going from just under ¥8 billion in Q3 FY 2012 to over ¥16 billion in Q3 FY 2013.

Iwata said the last time Nintendo download sales peaked was in the financial year ending March 2010, when the Wii and DSi were both big sellers. Over the past two years, sales have stymied, but a strong push from Nintendo for both the Wii U and 3DS seems to have pushed things into new record highs.

“The deployment of add-on content last year and the digital download sales of packaged software we started last July are contributing to the current sales growth,” Iwata said.

Animal Crossing: new Leaf, which released in Japan in November, has shipped 3.86 million units, and Iwata said a full 25% of sales were digital, if you include built-in digital installations in a new bundle pack. He attributed this partly to demand outstripping production of the game cart, which requires a special memory chip, but also to the game’s design, which rewards daily play – swapping the cart in and out every day isn’t always convenient.

Nintendo is quite pleased with the success of its various digital promotion schemes; it sells download versions of games at retailers, which is popular in the traditionally e-commerce unfriendly Japan, as well as through these retailer’s websites.

“We thought that one of the biggest hurdles is the limited exposure of the digital download products. If only the consumers who proactively visited the Nintendo eShop were aware of the digital download software that we deployed, there would be no chance that our digital business would dramatically expand,” Iwata commented.

“Some might be skeptical about how much downloadable software would be sold at retail stores without any discounts from the suggested retail price of the packaged counterpart. Actually, however, more than two-thirds of the download version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been sold through retailers.”

Club Nintendo research shows that 30% of members have the digital version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which is higher than average, suggesting core gamers are more keen on digital than general punters. Those who downloaded Animal: Crossing New Leaf were far more likely to pick up the digital version of Tomodachi Collection: New Life, which sold 400,000 units in its first week.

“The 40% percent of people who purchased the download version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, even without any other paid download experience, and also chose the download version of Tomodachi Collection is no less than five times larger than that of those who chose the packaged version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf,” Iwata pointed out.

“In other words, it is clear that, once people have chosen a download version, they tend to choose another download version next time due to convenience. We believe that letting as many people try a download version as possible is required for significant expansion of our digital business.”

Iwata said the eShop is becoming more and more important as a place to learn about new games, especially when it comes to Nintendo Direct; apparently cvonsumers without PCs or smartphones use their 3DS to access Nintendo’s popular video presentations.

“With some of our recent installments of Nintendo Direct, it became common to see total views for a single video reach five hundred to six hundred thousand in a matter of about 10 days on the Nintendo eShop while they did not show apparent growth on YouTube, meaning that people do indeed actively watch our videos on the Nintendo eShop. It is no exaggeration to say that the most preferred viewing option has now become the Nintendo eShop, and it is not uncommon to find that approximately 60 to 70 percent of total views come from the Nintendo eShop,” he said.

“Moreover, the fact that people watch Nintendo Direct on the Nintendo eShop means that they can directly download demos and 3D movies. We feel that having our consumers regularly visit the Nintendo eShop to access new information about our games is going to be enormously beneficial for our digital business in general.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/04/25/nintendo-eshop-sales-more-than-doubled-year-on-year/feed/3Miiverse headed to browser and mobile in Mayhttp://www.vg247.com/2013/03/28/miiverse-headed-to-browser-and-mobile-in-may/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/28/miiverse-headed-to-browser-and-mobile-in-may/#commentsThu, 28 Mar 2013 05:25:52 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=353588Nintendo still doesn’t have an ETA on the 3DS version of Miiverse, but you’ll be able to access the service from your phone or browser soon.

During a presentation at GDC, as reported by Polygon, producer Kiyoshi Mizuki said a mobile and browser app should be available by May.

The app will allow you to post comments, draw, and interact with communities when you’re awat from your Wii U, the only hardware to support the social network at present.

Interestingly, the producer said that Miiverse compatibility won’t be required for existing 3DS apps and games.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/03/28/miiverse-headed-to-browser-and-mobile-in-may/feed/0Miiverse friend requests blocked for under 12shttp://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/miiverse-friend-requests-blocked-for-under-12s/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/miiverse-friend-requests-blocked-for-under-12s/#commentsThu, 07 Feb 2013 21:37:14 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=337951Nintendo has made a quiet announcement of changes to its MiiVerse terms of service. As reported by Aussie-Gamer, the service now disallows direct friend requests to or from users aged 12 or under. Younger players can still make friends by swapping Nintendo Network IDs, a move Nintendo says it hopes will “encourage younger users to make friends on Wii U only if they are friends in real life”.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/02/07/miiverse-friend-requests-blocked-for-under-12s/feed/1PSA: Nintendo Network services undergoing emergency maintenancehttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/29/nintendo-network-services-undergoing-emergency-maintenance/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/29/nintendo-network-services-undergoing-emergency-maintenance/#commentsTue, 29 Jan 2013 02:51:04 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=334023If you’re having trouble accessing certain Nintendo Network services today, don’t worry – it’s not just you. Pokémon Black & White and Black & White 2, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, the Wii U eShop, Wii Shopping Channel and DSiWare shop are all undergoing emergency maintenance. According to Nintendo’s estimates, it should be finished tinkering with all of these by 5:00PM PST January 29. Happily, not all services will be offline for this entire time; hit the link for more information.
]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/29/nintendo-network-services-undergoing-emergency-maintenance/feed/0Nintendo’s network services being brought down for emergency maintenance starting January 28http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/26/nintendos-network-services-being-brought-down-for-emergency-maintenance-starting-january-28/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/26/nintendos-network-services-being-brought-down-for-emergency-maintenance-starting-january-28/#commentsSat, 26 Jan 2013 18:42:04 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=333430Nintendo’s network services will be brought down for emergency maintenance on Monday, January 28.

According to Nintendo Life, via GoNintendo, services in both North America and Europe will be brought down during different times due to the various time zones.

The schedule is below.

From Monday, January 28, 2013 11:00 PM – Tuesday, January 29, 2013 5:00 PM Pacific Time and on Tuesday, 29 January 2013 07:00 to Wednesday, 30 January 2013 01:00 UK time, the following services will be unavailable:

From Monday, January 28, 2013 5:00 PM – Monday, January 28, 2013 6:00 PM Pacific Time and Tuesday, 29 January 2013 01:00 to Tuesday, 29 January 2013 02:00 UK time, the following services will be affected:

Wii U Match Making, Ranking, and more for: Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper

Finally, on Monday, January 28, 2013 12:00 PM – Monday, January 28, 2013 5:00 PM Pacific Time and Monday, 28 January 2013 20:00 to Tuesday, 29 January 2013 01:00 UK time, the following services will be brought offline:

Wii U and 3DS eShops, the Wii Shopping Channel, and the DSi Shop .

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/26/nintendos-network-services-being-brought-down-for-emergency-maintenance-starting-january-28/feed/0Miiverse will be “huge” once it hits 3DS, says Iwatahttp://www.vg247.com/2013/01/16/miiverse-will-be-huge-once-it-hits-3ds-says-iwata/
http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/16/miiverse-will-be-huge-once-it-hits-3ds-says-iwata/#commentsWed, 16 Jan 2013 22:05:37 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=330635Miiverse isn’t a competitor to existing social networks but a place for gamers to share their experiences with those who understand them – and it’s going to be “huge” once it arrives on 3DS, according to Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata.

“Once the Miiverse hits the 3DS, it will be huge. Just imagine the possibilities of playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf while sharing your experiences on the Miiverse. Now that’s something,” Iwata said in a Nikkei interview translated by Siliconera.

Iwata said he’s noticed that people don’t talk as much about Nintendo on Twitter since Miiverse launched, because those conversations now take place inside Miiverse.

“When we first thought of Miiverse, we were told that it would be a bad idea after considering the likes of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” he said.

“After doing some more brainstorming, we decided to stick to the idea we wanted to see. The results ended up being something many people enjoy today.”

Iwata seems to have been vindicated, and justified his faith in the additional social service by pointing out that broad social networks don’t necessarily cater to gaming fans.

“The primary use of Twitter and Facebook is not gaming, but a means of communication. Although I don’t use either of them, if I did, I imagine I’d use it to talk about my outings and vacations to people who aren’t exactly video game enthusiasts,” he said.

“I don’t think my former classmates would care to hear about my new Mario Kart record and so on.”

I don’t know how I feel about being ghettoised because of my hobby as if it were something “normal” people don’t need to hear about, but Iwata put a different spin on it, saying that it creates a space for people to share experiences. something he and Shigeru Miyamoto are passionate about enabling.

“It was having those thoughts and feelings which eventually led to the creation of the Miiverse. Rather than social networking, we consider it an ‘experience sharing network,’” he said.

Currently exclusive to Wii U, Miiverse is also headed to PC and mobile devices after 3DS.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2013/01/16/miiverse-will-be-huge-once-it-hits-3ds-says-iwata/feed/7Hulu Plus now available on Wii Uhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/hulu-plus-now-available-on-wii-u/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/hulu-plus-now-available-on-wii-u/#commentsWed, 21 Nov 2012 04:29:06 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=317654Hulu has announced a Wii U version of its Hulu Plus app. As detailed on the streaming video service’s developer blog, the app makes use of the Game Pad, allowing you to control your content, or even watch on the smaller screen at will. Hulu Plus requires a $7.99 monthly subscription fee, but a free one week trial is available to Wii U owners.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/21/hulu-plus-now-available-on-wii-u/feed/0Nintendo Network accounts tied to specific Wii U consoleshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/nintendo-network-accounts-tied-to-specific-wii-u-consoles/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/nintendo-network-accounts-tied-to-specific-wii-u-consoles/#commentsMon, 19 Nov 2012 03:41:55 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=316884A caveat for those considering setting their shiny new Wii U consoles on fire or throwing them out the window in search of YouTube fame and stardom: you may lose your Nintendo Network ID. A post on the Nintendo Support suggests that, at present, you cannot log into your Nintendo Network account from anywhere other than the console it was created on. it seems unlikely this state of affairs will continue once the console ages enough that replacements may be required, but for now, bear in mind that once you forge that identity, its life is in your Wii U hardware’s hands.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/nintendo-network-accounts-tied-to-specific-wii-u-consoles/feed/1Wii U eShop lets indie devs set prices and issue free patcheshttp://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/wii-u-eshop-lets-indie-devs-set-prices-and-issue-free-patches/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/wii-u-eshop-lets-indie-devs-set-prices-and-issue-free-patches/#commentsMon, 19 Nov 2012 03:16:48 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=316877Trine 2 developer Frozenbyte has revealed a number of small concessions Nintendo has made with the Wii U eShop which make it a highly attractive destination for indies and smaller companies.

Speaking to IGN, Frozenbyte marketing manager Mikael Haveri said the Wii U eShop leaves a lot of power in the developer or publisher’s hands.

“That’s what we love about the new eShop, we have the power to price our products as we please, with just some basic guidelines from the big guys,” he said.

“We can set our own pricing and actually continuing on that by setting our own sales whenever we want. It is very close to what Apple and Steam are doing at the moment, and very indie friendly.”

On top of that, Nintendo doesn’t charge indies for patches, something which often leads to major delays on console games getting fixes.

“Simply put they’ve told us that there are no basic payments for each patch (which were pretty high on most platforms) and that we can update our game almost as much as we want. For indie developers this is huge,” Haveri said.

Haveri said Nintendo’s embrace of a more flexible approach to digital distribution is an acknowledgment that its earlier eShops weren’t “up to par”.

“Nintendo messed up the worst last time around. Now they really know that they have to make a huge improvement to get back into the game,” he said.

“What I have seen and heard so far is amazing and it’s definitely going in the right direction as far as small developers are concerned.”

The Wii U launched in the US at midnight on Sunday November 18. Pre-launch, Nintendo maintained a tight control on information regarding the console, but the floodgates have well and truly opened now. You’re drowning in the torrent, so let’s start with the most important question: is it any good?

Wii hardware reviews and impressions

Wii U hardware reviews – quick links

Everyone seems to agree that there’s plenty of fun to be had with the Wii U, but after that, things get messy. 1UP praised the console for its USB and SD card compatibility, while criticising the lack of video and audio out options and expressing doubts regarding the memory allowances – and said the modest, current-generation hardware won’t blow you away.

The Penny Arcade Report showed a lot of enthusiasm for the console, but bemoaned the sluggishness of its system menus and cumbersome game swapping process. The report concludes by calling the current firmware “half-baked”, but editor Ben Kuchera says he ‘adores’ the system and its games regardless.

GameInformer called a day one firmware update a “beast” and “excruciating”, but noted that the system is almost useless without it. The site seemed unimpressed with the Wii U’s video and browser functions; called MiiVerse “creepy”; and criticised the GamePad’s signal range and battery life.

MTV Multiplayer also had issues with charging the GamePad but otherwise was all praise for the new console, noting that “all signs point to a reality where Nintendo has learned from a lot of their mistakes with the Wii”.

The gamepad’s battery was an issue for Destructoid too, but the site called the controller “inherently superior” to the Wii’s even as it bemoaned the “simplistic” touchscreen.

Over on RipTen, criticism of the Wii U’s lack of audio out options was repeated, but the site also noted that the “lengthy” set up process was “painless”, and that the GamePad screen is “really lovely”.

The Wii U “doesn’t feel exactly like the next generation”, Joystiq said in its own review, but noted that the gamePad does feel futuristic and seemed impressed with the semi-portable tech.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Wii U graphics
comparison.

In a lengthy, detailed report, Kotaku concluded that it couldn’t whole-heartedly recommend the Wii U as it would have the Wii. That said, despite not committing to a “must-buy” status, the site did say the Wii U “is a good machine that makes one’s console gaming life surprisingly more convenient and luxurious”.

Polygon was one of the few outlets to give the hardware a score, and went for an alarmingly low 6.5. The review was written before the day-one patch, and makes note of the total lack of online features – as well as Nintendo’s inconsistent messaging in this regard. The site is “cautious and indeed, somewhat pessimistic” about the Wii U’s chances against next-generation hardware and cast doubts on the likelihood of decent third-party support.

Gamasutra also took a somewhat negative tone, saying the console just doesn’t “sing” to the consumer straight out the box, and may be “half-baked”.

On a more positive note, Shack News made mention of the system’s “seamless integration of TV and second screen” which “must be commended”. The site said it’s “clear the tech works”, but did wonder whether the Wii U will stand up, graphically, to next-generation hardware.

One criticism repeated on multiplate sites is that the console has launched without TVii. Speaking to MTV Multiplayer Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime discussed the delay.

“One of the things that we were criticized for yesterday was for the lack of some of the video on demand content, but I can tell you that when consumers buy their system, Netflix will be live,” he said.

Batman: Arkham City – Armored Edition
graphics comparison

“I share that because it really reflects how this is a living and breathing system. In the days and weeks ahead, the other three video services will be up and running. We’ve said that Nintendo TVii is coming in December, and so it truly is a living, breathing system that will bring more and more elements to bear over the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.”

One user has already taken a Wii U apart to find out what makes it tick, and according to a report on Kotaku, the answer is 2GB of Samsung-manufactured DDR3 RAM. Critics say this RAM runs at 17 GB per second, which is slower than alleged PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 speeds of 22-25 GB per second. The figures are a little meaningless at this point however as we don’t yet know how much eDRAM the console has, which could significantly impact performance.

Wii U’s huge day-one firmware update

As many reviews noted, it was difficult to judge the Wii U pre-launch because so many of its online features – Miiverse, the eShop, the Internet browser and backwards compatibility – are not bundled in, but instead delivered by day one firmware update.

This patch has raised ire among early adopters thanks to its heft; Siliconera noted with displeasure that the update took almost a full hour to download, and then half an hour to install.

Speaking to Polygon, Nintendo of America’s director of product marketing Bill Trinen said a firmware patch was necessary to give Nintendo’s engineers time to make specific features as perfect as possible.

“They’re craftsmen. And as craftsmen, they want to use every last possible moment to continue to make things the best that they can possibly be,” he said.

“If it’s live the moment [consumers] bring the system home, that’s what really matters,” he added when asked about press frustration with missing features pre-launch.

Multiple reports suggest powering off the Wii U during this huge system update can cause serious technical issues – “bricked” consoles – but none have been verified yet. Best to play it safe and ensure your console is powered during any download or install process.

Setting up your Wii U

Of course, you won’t be able to get this update at all if you can’t get your Wii U online, and this is something users have reported difficulties with. If you have a reasonable understanding of networking you can probably sort it out on your own, but if you’re a bit baffled by IP addresses and subnet masks, here’s a solution provided by a Nintendo forum user.

After install, reports suggest a Wii U Premium’s available system memory will drop from 32GB to 25GB; the 8GB model has only 3GB of usable space. Apparently alert to complaints about both the 8GB and 32GB consoles’ memory limits, Nintendo has provided a hefty FAQ on how to get the most out of it – one notable point is that Nintendo Land cannot be downloaded and installed on an 8GB system, but must be purchased at retail. Nintendo recommends padding out your console with USB storage devices if you intend to use the eShop a lot.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge Wii U
launch trailer

Once the patch is installed, you’ll have access to backwards compatibility, and will want to transfer your Wii profile across. We’ve touched on this before, but Kotaku has a visual guide now. GoNintendo reports not everything can be copied over – you’ll lose your Wii system settings, pre-installed WiiWare and Virtual Console games, GameCube save files, software already present on both consoles and content which is prohibited from transfer.

Nintendo’s hated friend codes have been overhauled for the Wii U but reception of the new system has been mixed. IGN has full details of how and when you can make friend requests, either in MiiVerse or from the Home menu, and notes that both areas use a different system, which seems complicated.

One last interesting little note about setting up your console: registering a user profile for a minor costs 50¢, charged to a parent or guardian’s credit card. The restriction only applies to children aged under 13, and exists so Nintendo can verify an adult is actually making the registration in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act; hopefully this will result in caregivers learning about and utilising parental control systems, too.

Wii U launch software impressions, details and complaints

Impressions on the Wii U’s launch software – especially of ported games – have been mixed. 1UP seems unhappy with Mass Effect 3, while IGN isn’t impressed by Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (although Kotaku says it “sucks less” than previous versions). Questions have been raised regarding the console’s graphical capabilities; a number of videos are available throughout this feature showing side-by-side comparisons.

Meta-game MiiVerse went down on day one, according to Kotaku, which hasn’t impressed users (and may be related to NeoGAF‘s discovery of a rumoured debug mode).

As for eShop games, post-patch the storefront is live and well populated; see the list in the sidebar. GoNintendo reports games must be downloaded and installed in a two-step process, as with the PlayStation 3, which has disappointed some users who just want to get on with the game. Trine 2, for example, apparently takes 17 minutes to install after downloading. On top of that, some games – like ZombiU – require day-one patches, proving Nintendo really has joined the connected age.

One game which surprised users is Trine 2: Director’s Cut, which was expected during the launch window but managed to hit release day. Joystiq reports the $20 game is a 2GB download, includes 20 levels, and boasts a special new multiplayer mode called Magic Mayhem, exclusive to the Wii U version.

Launch and supply issues

The console’s performance and software probably isn’t the motivation for it, but as Kotaku notes, the on-sell market for Wii U hardware, games and accessories is already booming. The site found well over 600 consoles on eBay for $520 or more, with premium bundles going for as much as $800. Nintendo isn’t expecting the kind of supply issues it had when the Wii launched, but bids on these grey market consoles are only rising, and the general social media noise suggests supplies are limited.

“Our goal, of course, is to manufacture as many as we can as quickly as we can,” Trinen said when asked about hardware shortages, saying Nintendo hoped to match the Wii’s sales performance.

“I think it’s gonna be a strong first year and I think there’ll be more to come after that as well.”

Trine 2: Director’s Cut Wii U launch trailer.

As Gematsu‘s photo coverage of the New York Wii U launch shows, Isaiah Triforce Jones was once again first in line to grab the latest Nintendo console.

Fils-Aime turned up at the New York event to surprise those in queue 24 hours before launch; Kotaku has video of the visit.

The Wii U released in the US on November 18, as a $300 white 8GB basic bundle, and a $350 black 32GB premium bundle. The new console arrives in Europe and Australia on November 30. It hits Japan on December 8.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/11/19/wii-u-launches-in-the-us-reviews-impressions-details/feed/34Wii U Deluxe Digital Promotion detailedhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/10/30/wii-u-deluxe-digital-promotion-detailed/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/10/30/wii-u-deluxe-digital-promotion-detailed/#commentsTue, 30 Oct 2012 19:08:03 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=311611Nintendo first talked about the Wii U’s “Deluxe Digital Promotion” back when the two SKUs were initially unveiled, but details about the initiative have since been scarce. Today, however, Nintendo has revealed what exactly purchasers of the 32GB, Deluxe version of the Wii U will be getting for their efforts.

As detailed over on Nintendo’s website, any Deluxe Set owner who buys a Wii U game from the Nintendo eShop will receive ten percent of its value back in points. So, if you buy a game for $59.99, you get 599 points in return.

Once those owners accrue 500 total points, they’ll get a code that gives them $5 in Nintendo eShop credit.

The promotion will begin letting players earn points on the Wii U’s launch day, November 18, and run up until the last day of 2014. Points can be swapped for eShop credit up until June 2015. The website to track your Deluxe Digital Promotion purchases itself doesn’t launch until this December, however.

Speaking to investors in a Q&A following its recent financial release, Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata said it would take “a long time to elaborate on Miiverse”, which is expected to be the Nintendo Network’s core answer to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Networks offering.

Although he offered a brief run down of the service’s aims, Iwata said it will be explained in full in a Nintendo Direct presentation which is even now being prepared, and that it will go live at the Wii U’s launch.

“After booting up Wii U, the screen we introduced as Mii Wara Wara will be automatically displayed with comments from other consumers enjoying Wii U. Also, without any specific development work, all Wii U games are supposed to be able to invoke Miiverse without being shut down and utilize basic functions of Miiverse,” he said.

Iwata said making friends is “the important mission” of Miiverse and will replace the cumbersome Friend Code system.

“Here’s an example. Who has more opportunities to go drinking, a person with three drinking pals or one with 20? The same can be said for golf pals or traveling pals. Anyway, as you have more friends to enjoy something together with, you have more topics and experiences related to it and as a result, you will have more opportunities to invite them or be invited to enjoy it,” he said.

“As Miiverse is not confined to dedicated gaming platforms and will be available on smart devices in the near future, we hope that, even on a train where many people are using smart devices, you will know how your gaming friends are enjoying their games.”

The executive said thsis will help news about games extend beyond the core, hooked-in audience to more casual gamers.

“If you have more friends to play games with, you will inevitably have more chances to encounter new games. What is more, this will be caused not by publishers’ advertisements, but visualization of the feelings of those you have empathized with,” he said.

“As there are many excellent but buried games in the world, and you must be impressed by some of them, the important mission of Miiverse is to create opportunities to let you know about such games without spending our finite advertising budget on it.”

Finally, Miiverse grants Nintendo the chance to enable people to connect.

“Various people pointed out that playing Wii games alone was not as fun as playing them in a group. For Wii U, even when you are not with your family or friends, you can play games connected to various people around the world through Miiverse. We are aiming to have consumers enjoy Wii U with people even when they are physically alone,” he said.

Iwata also said that Miiverse on smartphones and tablets is Nintendo’s answer to the growing ubiquity of smart devices, rather than peddling old games on new devices.

Writing on Capcom Unity, senior vice president Christian Svensson said that the KDDI-hosted servers for Wii title Monster Hunter Tri will be closed down.

“We’ll give everyone a heads up well in advance when we make that decision,” he promised.

“I was adamant that we not do so until we had a proper alternative title to allow people to migrate to if they wish. It would have been bad just cut people off with no other place for them to hunt, in spite of the significant costs of operation.”

The publisher isn’t yet entirely clear on how Tri’s replacement, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, will work online, with Svensson unable to confirm whether players would be restricted by regional servers.

“For Wii U we’re using Nintendo’s servers (which I’m very happy about) and I’m not sure how they’re set up. Candidly, we’re still waiting for Wii U builds in our office to play with and there’s still many moving parts that no one except for the team members has first hand experience with at this point,” he said.

“We have six months until release (roughly). We’ll have a lot more detail on these and other questions (most of which we DO know the answers to) as we move through the communications/marketing campaign and run-up to launch.”

Svensson also revealed that he isn’t aware of any plans allowing players to transfer progress from Monster Hunter Tri to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U or 3DS.

Speaking to Gamasutra, a number of independent developers had plenty of praise and positivity for Nintendo’s digital offerings.

“The eShop, I feel, has really turned things around for Nintendo on the digital side because the storefront is heavily feature-driven,” Tyrone Rodriguez of Cave Story publisher Nicalis said.

“Much has been said about WiiWare and DSiWare, but basically what irks me the most is that [Nintendo] never updated WiiWare based on player and developer feedback,” Collin van Ginkel of Toki Tori developer Two Tribes added.

“You can already see that the 3DS eShop is being developed much more actively, and I hope they will continue that for Wii U’s online store as well.”

Gaijin Games co-founder Alex Neuse said upcoming title Bit.Trip Runner 2 will launch the Wii U’s digital store, and that Nintendo is a pleasure to work with.

“Dan Adelman at Nintendo is a champ. He’s reaching out to a lot of indies,” he said.

“I think many people think Nintendo is very difficult to work with. My experience working with them has been great. If I have questions or need something, I contact them and get what I need. And, if they need something from me, they do the same,” he said.

“If there are enough people actively purchasing games on the eShop, we might have a chance to rely solely on the eShop as a business model, enabling us to continue developing original content without the constraints typically brought upon us by the broken retail business model,” he added.

In the first two pages of the feature article, linked above, various developers discuss both their frustrations and successes with the WiiWare and DsiWare services. It’s quite interesting stuff, especially the comparisons to Apple’s App Store.

As detailed on a Nintendo of Japan website and helpfully summarised by Andriasang, 3DS owners will soon be able to buy downloadable games through retailers like 7-Eleven, in the form of redeemable eShop codes.

This is a thing other platform holders do and it works particularly well for those who, for various reasons, can’t or won’t use a credit card to purchase downloadable games. What makes it a little confusing is that Nintendo has extended its offerings to online retailers like Tsutaya Online Shopping, Rakuten Books, Seven Net Shopping, Yodobashi.com and Joshin Net Shopping.

So, instead of putting your credit card details into the 3DS eShop, making a purchase, and downloading a game, you have to put your credit card details into a third-party retailer’s online presence, receive a code, input that into the 3DS eShop, and then download a game. Bwauuuuuum.

Jokes aside there are probably reasons people might appreciate this service, like store-credit or store-specific credit card deals – not to mention keeping retail partners sweet with Nintendo’s new digital strategy.

The first games Nintendo will offer simultaneously through retail, download, download via retail and – ha ha – download via online retail are New Super Mario Bros 2 and Demon Training. The service kicks off in Japan on July 28.

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/07/25/nintendo-to-offer-downloadable-game-codes-through-online-retailers/feed/0Nintendo to outline digital games strategy to retailers soon, says Yarntonhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/06/26/nintendo-to-outline-digital-games-strategy-to-retailers-soon-says-yarnton/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/26/nintendo-to-outline-digital-games-strategy-to-retailers-soon-says-yarnton/#commentsTue, 26 Jun 2012 14:42:22 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=272670Nintendo UK boss David Yarnton has said the company will outline its digital content plans to retailers soon.

Speaking with MCV, Yarnston said: “One of the things we perhaps haven’t been so good at is telling you about the features we have. For example the downloadable games and other DLC – but we have been promoting it.

“One of our big successes has been Pullblox,” he continued. “It has done incredibly well, and is such good value, and is so much fun – but not enough people know about it. It’s not there on the shopfloor. But it is there, and we have a lot of games like that. We need to do more about educating people about that.”

While the download market has grown, “it hasn’t eaten into retail in the way many predicted,” said Yarnton, and the firm still has logistical measures to sort.

“We want to support our partners and them to support us. So we think there is room for packaged goods as well as digital,” he said. “When you go out to retail, the exposure a shop can give a game is incredible. Some people want downloadable content for its convenience, some people like having a games collection. There’s room for both.

“At the moment we have the voucher cards – we’re not quite there to let retailers have just codes for a Zelda game,” he said. “Yes, digital downloads can reduce the inventory risk – but if you give someone a card with a code it still has a value. There are some issues to work through, but it will happen in the not-too-distant future.

“I can’t speak for them all, but having spoken to places like GAME, they have seen an incredible rise in the sales of digital content. It’s working for them.”

]]>http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/26/nintendo-to-outline-digital-games-strategy-to-retailers-soon-says-yarnton/feed/1Wii U’s Miiverse will lack social network connectivityhttp://www.vg247.com/2012/06/21/wii-us-miiverse-will-lack-social-network-connectivity/
http://www.vg247.com/2012/06/21/wii-us-miiverse-will-lack-social-network-connectivity/#commentsThu, 21 Jun 2012 10:00:56 +0000http://www.vg247.com/?p=271380Looking forward to being able to update your Facebook status or Tweet your in-game activity from within Nintendo’s Miiverse community? Well, too bad; connectivity between the Miiverse and other social networks has been ruled out by Nintendo.

Nintendo has told GI International that its Wii U integrated social network, Miiverse, will not link to existing networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Miiverse users will be able talk to one another via text and video messages, as well as receive game recommendations and assistance from each other, while a content moderation system will ensure the chat is kept clean.

There are also plans to allow users to access the Miiverse via other internet-enabled devices, such as laptops, PCs and mobile phones.

However, when it comes to linking to the outside world of external social networks, Nintendo of Europe’s managing director of marketing and public relations, Laurent Fischer, said that the firm has no interest in aping other devices that offer access to widely available services, “I have three devices permanently doing that already, what is our benefit to do so also?” he said.

Fischer went on to say that one of the strengths of the Miiverse will be that its members can be assured that other users share at least one of their interests:

“On the Wii U we do have additional reasons for connecting, we talked about things like the video chat system, nothing revolutionary but it’s going to be convenient, it’s going to be easy.

“And the Miiverse is the one actually that I believe has a very unique feature which is we put ourselves in the situation of making sure the people you can communicate with they are somehow already in a kind of community. The community will be the Wii U owners, who will have this common interest for video games and our expectation about that is it’s going to be a way to enhance the idea of sharing information on the video game.”

Just don’t expect that sharing of information to come in the form of Tweets stating “Rob Curtis is gearing up for Friday in NintendoLand.”